I was helping my mum sort out her books when she moved house and we found a load of old books that belonged to my granny from when she was a child. I really love the illustrations and have used them in graphics. I used one of these in a record cover illustration I created for a house music label ISM. They have a lot of charm and personality these illustrations. Some of them are a little weird but most are certainly cute. I like how you get a window into life as it was in the 20s when my granny was little. It does make me miss my granny.

Sometimes they can be sickly sweet and just too romantic for my liking. I was given an old tin with colouring pencils from my uncle, who is a landscape artist. The image on the front was of a very romantic looking lady in a huge Georgian dress with a bird cage, releasing the bird while standing under a tree. I photoshopped the image so it looked like the bird was being released and then shot by the woman. It made me laugh anyway. I think I used it for something although I can’t find it now I’ve looked.

I like using them in contrast with more modern, clean graphics. I’ve got one vintage image of a lady standing with a deer. It’s pretty cheesy so I used it in a collage for another record cover. It’s in my portfolio. This is a link to it.

As a freelance graphic designer, I like to make work thats personal to me in my own time, in order to exorcise all my desires to create something in my style. Then when a corporate job comes along I can create something that will fit the brief without feeling like my soul has been eroded slightly.